


Momento Mori

by nebulas (strawberry_bee)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-01 07:44:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10184342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberry_bee/pseuds/nebulas
Summary: Genji lives with the fact that his brother will never forgive himself for what he has done to him. It takes a tragedy to reconcile the two brothers at long last.





	

Genji was born and raised a soldier. From the earliest memories of his youth, he was in the courtyard of Hanamura drilling against his older brother. He would never forget those early days, when he first learned the art of stealth and subterfuge. At first it was a game; to steal the masters cookies, to sneak behind Hanzo’s back and strike him down with his wooden sword before he could react. It was all a game to him.

For all intents and purposes, the two brothers were raised as one soul in two bodies. They would only break away during their respective training. Hanzo showed an affinity for the bow, whilst Genji continued with his swordplay. They were the perfect sons that their father had expected of them. Even when Genji had come to dinner with his hair a vibrant green, he had let it slide. A little bit of rebellion was expected of the spare, naturally. As long as Hanzo was the perfect child, it would be fine if Genji slipped up from time to time.

That was before he had started putting a bad spin on the Shimada name. Then he was a rabid dog that had to be put down. It was possibly the one time in his life that his father had seen him as Genji Shimada, and not the right hand that would help guide their empire to even bigger heights of perfection. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to scare him half to death with his omnic body.  

“Brother, you’re too distracted. It’ll get you killed,” Hanzo chastened over the comm unit. Genji managed to laugh.

“It’ll be fine, I’ve already died once,” He said. He heard the sharp intake of breath from his brother. Genji bit back a sigh. He honestly wasn’t trying to rub it in or anything, it was just part of who he was now. Genji yearned for the day that his brother didn’t look at him with guilt in his eyes. Or maybe the jokes were a bit callous.

“Hey now, that’s the third joke of that sort tonight,” Jesse put in. Genji rolled his eyes. He was always the eternal chivalrous boyfriend. Not that he disliked Jesse, he was actually good for his brother. Just enough to push him towards letting go, but not so that Hanzo shut down in response. Genji craned his head to see that Zenyatta was in position. Yeah. That was something they both needed. Someone to gently show them how to let go.

“Sorry, I must be in a mood tonight,” he answered. He shifted his weight onto his other foot, unconsciously checking to make sure that he remained in the shadows.  

“It’s the area,” Hanzo put in. Genji caught sight of the end of his brother’s ponytail across the way, as he moved to hide behind a wooden beam.

“Something like that,” Genji said.

“If this is too much of a burden on the two of you, we can pull out and return on another day,” Zenyatta said. Genji scoffed, at the same time Hanzo did. Some habits died hard. Especially when someone told them they couldn’t do something.

“No, it’s better to face old haunts with friends watching our backs,” Hanzo said.

“I’ve caught sight of the target, if you’re ready to get this show on the road,” Zarya said.

“Let’s show these suckers what it means to fear Overwatch,” Tracer said.

Zarya kicked the door open on the far side of the hall, throwing up a particle barrier just in time. They made short work of the turrets that were stationed right inside of the office. With a gesture from Zarya, they all closed in. Genji stepped through the office, stepping carefully over the charred remains of the turrets. He plucked one of his shurikens from the top of a turret’s half-melted mound, picking absently at the molten plastic. Tracer zipped from spot to spot, throwing files into the air as she searched for anything that might be of use to them. Genji wondered why anyone was using paper files in this day and age, but he supposed this brand of evil also wanted to see the world burn up with a lack of an ozone layer.

“Nothing to report,” Tracer said at last, coming to a standstill in front of the desk. With a sigh she swiped at the little nameplate, intending to send it flying to the ground. They all startled when the nameplate clicked over, and the wall directly to their left began to open with a shriek.

“This is a James Bond level evil base,” Genji said to no one in particular. He heard Zenyatta laugh lightly. Genji glanced at his master, happy to see that he had been paying attention during all the hours Genji had spent introducing him to old age movies.

“Pay attention, brother,” Hanzo said softly, calling Genji to attention. Some things never went away, and one of those was listening to his brother when he meant business. He sidled over to take up his brothers flank, waiting for the opportune time to zip past Zarya and into the corridor. Sure, he listened to his brother. But only so far as to get him into the thick of battle.

They were greeted with a blaze of gunfire. This time from trained professionals, omnic and human alike. Zarya led the charge for the first few seconds, before Genji overtook her.

“Genji!” Hanzo shouted, irritated.

“Live a little, brother!” Genji called back, laughing as he deflected a bullet. He threw the shuriken he had in his hand, knowing without looking that it had met its mark in the circuited skull of an omnic. Several more men fell around him, from Jesse, from Tracer. Moments later arrows began to bloom among the fallen, and Genji knew he was pressed for time. There was no way he was going to let his brother kill more than him this time around. The last time Hanzo had won, Genji had to eat an entire bottle of soy sauce. This time, it would be Hanzo who had to drink a bottle of something lurking in the back of the watch point’s fridge.

At some point he was shot in the shoulder, but hardly allowed it to slow him down as one of Zenyatta’s orbs encircled him within moments, healing the ailment. Besides, it wasn’t like it hit what flesh remained to Genji anyway.

A new wave of enemies swarmed out of an unseen door, and Genji unsheathed his katana. Oh, this was just going to be _fun_. He lunged right towards them, swinging his blade in a wide arc as he neared. The shimmer of blood clouded his vision for the shortest of moments, pulling him into a state of bloodlust.

The only cure for bloodlust was a mound of bodies. And that’s what they found themselves in. Hanzo made his way over to Jesse, leaning against the cowboy as he wiped a smear of blood off of his cheek. Zenyatta made quick work of everyone’s wounds. Genji, who had remained largely unhurt during the ordeal, began to wander around the floor of the base.

“Damn, I don't think he’s here brother,” Genji said. Hanzo cursed, striding over to Genji.

“Are you certain?” he asked, looking among the bodies.

“I would know if I killed him,” Genji replied, resting a hand on his brother's shoulder. Hanzo frowned up at him.

“We must’ve tipped him off, let him flee,” Hanzo said, shrugging his brother’s hand off. Genji didn’t take it too personally. Hanzo was never much for physical touch.

“The dude is nearly one hundred by now, how the hell is our old master avoiding us this expertly?” Genji asked. Together the two brothers wandered into the off chute in which the second wave of enemies had originated from.

“You forget that what we know, is an eighth of what he does,” Hanzo replied. There was an exhausted edge to his voice.

“I doubt that. Together we make up at least one-fourth,” Genji said cheekily. Hanzo rolled his eyes. They drew to a stop in the middle of the underground dojo, gazing around in silent respect. Genji hated the guy, but there was something about years of blood, sweat, and tears being spilled on the very floor he stood on that drew a certain amount of somberness.

“It’s about time we were getting back,” Hanzo said at last, breaking the spell. Genji nodded, and together they turned their backs. Hanzo froze in midair for the faintest of seconds, and with a concise strike punched Genji right in the sternum. Genji fell backwards, the air leaving his lungs as a sudden fire of bullets pierced the air.

Genji watched as his brother’s torso was blasted to shreds in front of him. Hanzo’s dragons rose from their master's body, spectral as they made to defend him. They roared, shaking the very foundation of the building as they shot above Genji’s head. Genji leaned on his side, coughing as he willed his own dragon to join them. Green vapor surrounded him as his own dragon joined his brothers in the assault. Genji lifted his head, just in time to watch his old master be eviscerated by the rage of the three dragons.

Genji crawled to his brother on all fours. He heard yelling in his comm unit, and he tore the chip out. He pulled his brothers head into his lap, his hands slick with blood. Fear rose up inside of him, thick and black and choking. He wrenched his faceplate off, just in time to vomit just to the left of Hanzo.

“ _Oh god, brother, please, not now,_ ” Genji begged, reverting to Japanese. He barely noticed Zenyatta’s healing orbs, nor Jesse kneeling beside him. The cowboy was saying something in rapid fire spanish, holding Hanzo’s hand. Tracer was speaking into her comm unit. Calling for an immediate evacuation.

“ _You must live, as I did for you, please,”_ Genji choked out. He looked up at jesse, noticing the tear streaks on his face. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. Hanzo hadn’t even forgiven himself yet.

The only thing that kept Genji there, was the telltale sign of Hanzo’s chest rising and falling raggedly. Zenyatta had managed to keep him alive for the time being, but even he couldn’t perform miracles. What they needed was Mercy. If she could save him, then she would be able to save Hanzo.

 

“You need to wash that off,” Jack said to Genji. The two of them jerked their heads up to look at the commander at the same time. Belatedly, Genji realized that he was caked in his brother's blood. Shit, no matter why the nurses were avoiding him. Well, at least he knew now that Jesse wasn’t squeamish around blood for long periods of time.

“How is he,” Jesse said hoarsely.

“I know as much as you both do. Staying here won't make Angela work any faster,” Jack said.

“And besides, you’ll freak Angela out more if she comes out to see you caked in blood,” Jack said pointedly towards Genji.

“I really doubt Angela is freaked out by blood,” Genji said dryly.

“Seeing you covered head to toe might,” Jack replied.

“Fair enough. God, I can’t believe I’m being told to clean up when I’m thirty fuckin five years old,” Genji said, standing.

“I’ll holler if Angela comes out,” Jesse said.

“Thanks, cowboy,” Genji said, tilting an imaginary hat towards Jesse. Jesse just squinted at him, looking dead off his feet in the harsh artificial lighting of the hospital. Genji was glad he had his faceplate on, or else Jesse would’ve seen the look of regret on his face. Man, he really had to learn to be more tactful around people.

There was no hollering done while Genji used one of the spare hospital showers to wash off the blood. It was always a bitch to get blood out of the crevices of his armor, and it didn’t help that his hands couldn’t stop shaking while he was scrubbing away with the hospital-issued loofah. At some point he gave up and sat on the floor of the shower, letting the water run cold until he finally brought himself to get up and dry himself off.

“Any change?” Genji asked, waltzing out of the hospital room. Jesse glanced up, before returning to staring intently at the floor.

“No, nothin’ yet,” Jesse said.

“Ah, well,” Genji sat down beside jesse with a sigh, “my brother always liked to keep everyone waiting anyway.”

“What happened in there? It seemed like hell broke loose in a split second,” Jesse said.

“We underestimated our old master, I’d be dead if Hanzo hadn’t pushed me out of the way,” Genji said.

“Hell, I’m glad he was there,” Jesse said. He leaned back in the plastic chair, slouching. Genji shook his head.

“Yeah, it’d be just bad luck if I died twice,” Genji said lightly. Jesse huffed a laugh.

“You and your gallows humor,” He said.

“It helps, in the long run,” Genji said.

The door down the word opened seamlessly, and Angela stepped through, looking haggard in a pristine white coat. She raised her hand in greeting to Genji and Jesse, who were already on their feet.

“How is he?” They both asked at once. Angela managed a tight-lipped smile, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

“Well, he’s doing a lot better under my care, but there’s no guarantee he’s waking up in the near future,” Angela said.

“As long as he opens those eyes of his, I ain't complainin’,” Jesse said, who was anxiously twisting his hat in his hands. Genji rested a hand on Jesse’s shoulder lightly. Jesse’s shoulders fell, and if Genji didn’t know better to let it slide, he could’ve sworn that Jesse was crying.

“Can we see him?” Genji asked.

“Mmm, maybe tomorrow. I have to be keeping an eye on him, and you both need to rest before you even think about staking out his hospital room,” Angela began. Jesse glanced up, and whatever look that was in his eyes made her concede at last.

“Fine, but you’re only getting half an hour,” She told him, turning on her heel. They followed her down the corridor. Genji wasn’t unfamiliar with hospitals, it was a second home to him. Still, it was always a punch to the gut to see someone he loved lying comatose on the hospital bed.

It was unnatural for Hanzo to be so still. His hair was a knotted mess splayed around his head, and had a breathing tube in. Jesse moved to take the only seat in the room, picking up Hanzo’s iv-addled hand and holding it between his. Genji drifted to the other side.

“His hands are so cold,” Jesse said softly, cupping Hanzo’s hand in his own. Genji watched as Jesse gently blew air on Hanzo’s hand, before squeezing his fingers between his own.

“It’ll be okay, I think,” Genji replied. The white gauze that coated Hanzo’s entire torso lent to the idea that everything was orderly and under control. He wanted to believe that, he really did. Angela hovered in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest as she watched the two of them closely.

“I’m going to talk to Ziegler for a moment. See if my brother might need to get his tattoos redone,” Genji said to Jesse. Jesse nodded in a jerky fashion, not letting his eyes wander from Hanzo for even a heartbeat. Genji followed Angela into the hallway, who had already disappeared around the corner.

“Are you alright, Genji?” Angela asked, reaching up to rest her hand against his faceplate. Genji reached up, cupping her hand in his.

“It’ll sink in eventually, it’s not like my brother to be the one in the hospital,” Genji said, voice hoarse. Angela’s eyes softened, and she pulled him into a hug. Genji froze for the briefest of moments, before embracing her.

“I hated him, you know. For almost killing you,” She said, muffled.

“It’s alright, angel food cake,” He said, not wanting to make her cry anymore.

“But he almost died for you, just like that,” Angela said, pulling away from Genji. She used the sleeve of her coat to wipe away the tears she left on Genji’s suit, and he tried to swat her away. He didn’t care if she got snot all over him, as long as she was comforted.

“He probably considers us to be even now. I won’t get to make my awful jokes anymore,” Genji said, fighting to be cheerful about the ordeal.

“Genji, you have to be hurting, what would Zenyatta say?” Angela said, sniffling a little.

“In order to heal from old wounds, you must let them hurt first,” Genji recited in a monotone voice. Man, he hated it when Zenyatta made him feel things. It was best to bury all his feelings deep down inside.

“C’mon, it’s about time you went to bed,” Angela said softly, pressing her hand in the small of his back.

“Promise you’ll be clocking off soon?” Genji asked, holding onto her for a moment longer.

“I have to keep an eye on our cowboy. He’s not going anywhere for the time being,” Angela said, throwing a glance towards the hospital room.

“If you need help dragging him out kicking, you know who to call,” Genji said. Angela smiled fondly up at him, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek before dodging past and into the hospital room.

 

They’re eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the room when Hanzo wakes up.

“ _Genji, your smacking your mouth too much,”_ Hanzo complained in a hoarse voice. Genji whipped his head up, shocked to see his brother glaring at him from the bed.

“ _Idiot, you just about off and died, I’m stress eating,”_ Genji dropped his sandwich on the floor and pulled Hanzo into a hug, ignoring his stifled cry of pain. He let go after a moment, to make way for Jesse.

“Mi amor,” Jesse said fondly, brushing Hanzo’s cheekbone with the back of his hand softly.

“ _I feared I would never look upon your face again,”_ Hanzo closed and opened his eyes once more “you have peanut butter on your cheek, anata.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Jesse said, hastily wiping the food off of his face. Hanzo glanced over at Genji, amusement in his eyes.

“ _Cut him some slack, he hasn’t slept in three days,”_ Genji informed Hanzo. Hanzo looked back at Jesse, eyes soft.

“ _You should’ve told him to sleep for me,”_ Hanzo said.

“ _What, and get threatened? No brother, hell would come between you two before he left your side,”_ Genji said.

“My brother says you haven’t slept,” Hanzo said, glaring at Jesse.

“Couldn’t. Was worried sick about ya,” Jesse said. Hanzo smiled up at him, taking Jesse’s hand in his own.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be leaving you anytime soon,” He said.

“Eugh, gross, someone stop this,” Genji said, making a show of pretending to gag.

“I never say anything about Angela, Zenyatta and you,” Hanzo replied, glaring at Genji. Genji stuck his tongue out at his brother, beaten.

“Mister Shimada, it’s good to see you awake,” Angela said, slipping in the door. Hanzo tilted his head in greeting. Genji watched the two of them uneasily. They weren’t the kind to get along famously. At last, Angela reached up and wiped away at her eyes, and whatever silent uneasiness between the two of them appeared to abate.

“Thank you for saving my life, Ziegler-san,” Hanzo said.

“It’s my job,” Angela said, glancing at Genji. She had a look of worry on her face. Belatedly, Genji realized she was worried about offending his brother on accident.

“May I speak to my brother for a moment?” Hanzo asked politely. The room vacated in near a minute, just long enough for Genji to think of every single bad thing he had done since Hanzo had passed out. For some reason he believed that his brother was capable of following him even as a ghost.

“ _I need help recalling something,”_ Hanzo said. Genji moved to the side of the bed, sitting down in a chair.

“ _If you’re wondering who killed our master, it was our dragons,”_ Genji said. Hanzo nodded, studying his brothers face intently. Genji wondered if all he saw was the scars he had left him for the rest of his life. He certainly hoped not.

“ _I-I never thought your dragon would protect me again,”_ Hanzo admitted, taking a shaky breath.

“ _Of course he would. You’re my brother,”_ Genji replied incredulously.

“ _Do you remember what our father told us about the dragons? How they convey our deepest emotions, the ones that we aren’t consciously aware of?”_ Hanzo asked. Genji nodded, biting his tongue so he didn’t remind his brother that he was the one who found their father’s stories to be a load of crap.

“ _I didn’t quite believe you forgave me until I saw the flash of green. I thought that’s how I would die, at the hands of your dragon,”_ Hanzo said. He lowered his gaze, avoiding Genji’s eyes. Too late, Genji noticed the telltale sign of a tear streaking down Hanzo’s face before his brother could wipe it away in time.

“ _You’ve always been the stubborn one, not me. Of course I forgave you. Why would I lie about that?”_ Genji asked.

“ _Because if it were true, I would have to let myself heal,”_ Hanzo responded. Genji smiled.

“ _It is as my master says, in order to heal from old wounds, you must let them hurt first,”_ Genji said. Hanzo grumbled a reply that sounded a whole lot like conceding Genji’s point. Genji decided to take the small victory for what it was worth.

“ _You know, I do believe I can say that I died for you, so go get me a bag of doritos,”_ Hanzo said, bursting into laughter at Genji’s look of horror.

“ _Oh, that is just evil,”_ Genji said.

“ _I learned the best from my brother,”_ Hanzo teased.

“ _Oh, by the way, Angela told me that she completely ruined your tattoo. In fact, the dragons look like a horse’s ass,”_ Genji said, standing up.

“ _Liar,”_ Hanzo accused. Genji only raised an eyebrow at him, mouthing ‘does it look like i’d joke about that?’ as he backed out of the room.

“How is he?” Jesse asked, craning his head to look beyond Genji.

“Oh, getting his payback after all these months,” Genji said lightly. He strolled down the corridor. Where the hell was he going to get a bag of doritos this late at night?

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to my friend who gave me a concept so that I could steal it and run away with it. Oopsie. But anywho, said friend can be found at magical-apostacy.tumblr.com Her artwork is absolutely phenomenal and I'm in awe of her skills. Go check her out! 
> 
> And as always, thank you for reading!


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